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Overview

Matthias and Kimberly have dinner with the Duke, but one obnoxious noble almost spoils the evening.

Summary

After watching the archery tournament, Matthias and Kimberly retire to their rooms to dress for the Duke's dinner. Thalberg seats them at the end of the table, and runs them through the necessary decorum. The dinner starts off well, but then Lord Loriod enters and sits opposite them at the table. Both Matthias and Kimberly are immediately offended by his appearance and smell.

Thomas gives a toast for the year's harvest, and the dinner guests enjoy bread, vegetables, soup, and sparkling wine. During the second course, both Matthias and Kimberly express distaste at Loriod's licentious jokes, which turns his attention to them. Loriod mocks them for being rats, and Matthias, a bit tipsy from the wine and angry that Loriod is insulting Kimberly, mocks his foul smell. Loriod unleashes several insults at how unclean and impure they are, while Matthias retaliates at how honorless and ignorant Loriod is, until Thomas finally stops the argument.

The rest of the feast passes quietly, but Matthias is unable to focus. As soon as it ends, he hurries Kimberly out into the hall, where she weeps and he apologizes and calls her beautiful and confesses his love for her. Thomas and Thalberg appear and apologize for Loriod's rude behavior, and that he will ensure they be invited to another dinner soon, and will be seated near him. Matthias and Kimberly set off for Dr Channing's reading of the second-place story.

Characters

Main Characters:

Charles Matthias: Headmaster of the Writer's Guild. Years ago he and several Keepers convinced Thomas to tax the nobility to fund several projects that benefited the commoners, such as the Gnawer's Support Group.

Kimberly: Matthias's beloved. She explains that she'd never eaten at a noble's table; she and her family ate in the kitchen. Her parents served the Baron, while she and her siblings served the Baron's children.

Lord Loriod: He has a woman before the curse, the wife of the previous Loriod who supposedly killed himself after the curse. He is large and has oily black hair, and very good at manipulating people via conversation.